A little while back, I received a helmet cast from FluxTideDesigns (Etsy Here).

The Raw Kit. I decided not to use the included tubes because printing custom ones out of NinjaFlex will be more accurate.

Painting the helmet with some filler primer and red flake metallic paint was actually the easiest part. The more intricate part is the wiring, which required a little bit of learning. In the end, I ended up with an interior rig that had the Arduino running a 12V PC fan out of its VIN port, and Adafruit NeoPixels out of its 5V port. Thankfully I didn’t need to use many NeoPixels, so the draw didn’t pull too many amps and reset the board. The entire rig is powered by an 8xAA battery pack running into the barrel plug of the board.

Really soon, I am adding the tubes, printed in NinjaFlex Filament, and adding a magnetic proximity switch in order to cycle the helmet’s animations from the outside with the touch of a neodymium magnet embedded in my left glove. This same magnet will switch modes on my arm cannon as well.